Mechanism for operating car doors and steps.



G. W. VOIGT. MEGHANISM PoR OPERATING GAR DOORS AND STEPS.

l APPLICATION FILED PEB. l, 1911. v 1,043,483, Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

2 BHEETS-SHEBT l.

www HIM COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH C13-,WASHINGTON D. C.

, G. W. VOIGT. MEOHANISM FOR OPERATING OAR DOORS AND STEPS.

.APPLIATIOH FILED FEB. 1, 1911.

Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 coLuMulA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D. c.

'UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. VOIGT, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JOI-IN 'I.

. ILLINOIS.

GIBLIN, or CHICAGO,

MEOHANISM FOR OPERATING CAR VDOORS AND STEPS.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Application led February 1, 1911.

' Patented Nov. 5, 1912".

Serial N o. 605,985.

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. Voler, a

citizen of the United States, residing at` Chicago, in the county ofCook andV State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Mechanism `for Operating Car Doors and Steps, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for opening and closing the doors ofstreet railway cars and for moving into and out of operative position astep adjacent to said door, the primary object of the invention being toproduce means for this purpose which may be conveniently operated by themotor-man, and is simple, efficient and strong so that it will becapable of withstanding the rough usage which in practice it is apt toreceive.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be understood fromthe detailed description hereinafter set forth'.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a view showing in dottedoutline a vertical longitudinal section through a street railway carplatform, the door appearing in inside elevation, said view furtherillustrat ing inoperative association with the platform a mechanismembodying my 4invention for opening and closing the doorand for movingthe step into and out of operative position, the step also appearing ininside or rear side elevation. In this view the door is shown closed andthe step in its inoperative position. Fig. 2 is a fragmental plan viewof the platform and operating mechanism, the platform being indicated indotted outline. Figs. 3 and t are fragmental trans verse vertical detailsectional views in the plane of line 3 3 of Fig. 2, showingl'the step inits inoperative and its operative po sitions respectively. Figs. 5, 6and 7 are fragmental detail views of the means for connecting theoperating leverto the door. Fig. 8 is a fragmental detail sectional viewillustrating the stop means for the operating staff, the view beingtaken in the plane of line 3 8 of Fig. r1. y

The port-ion of the mechanism herein shown for opening and closing thedoor is substantially similar to that shown in myl prior Patent No.965,770 issued July 26, 1910, but it should be understood that the meansfor operating the step may be con-` nected with a door operatingmechanism of vdifferent construction.

In the drawings, A indicates a street railway car platform having a doorB movable thereon.. In the form herein shown, the i `the doorB so thatwhen said lever is swung,

the door will be opened and closed. The connection herein shown betweenthe lever 1 and the door is somewhat different from that shown in mysaid patent, the present connection comprising a rounded member 3secured to the rear edge ofthe door, a rod 4: spaced from the member 3and having. its ends fixed tofbrackets 5 which are secured to the edgeof the door, and a grooved stud 6 securedto the upper end of the leverland adapted to travel between the member 3 and the rodt in the swingingmovement-s of the lever 1. A

In `order-to cushion the closing movement I of the door so as to preventinjury to a p,er sons hand or clothing which may happen to be inthepathofmovement of the'door, and

`also fora furtherpurpose to be later descr-ibed, I provide,` a coiledspring 7 sur- `The means for swinging th-elever 1. to i open and closethe door `may comprise a rcckshaft 9^mounted inbearings 10, carried bythe platform A, the shaft being positioned at some distance belowthepivot point 2u of the lever l.` Fixed tothe shaft 9 l is an arm 11which carries at its upper end a block 1.2 slidable :in a slot 13 in thelever l. The shaft-9 may be rocked by means of the `vertical staff `14mounted in suitable bearings on theplatform A, said staffn having atfits upper` end `a handle orcrank 15 and at .its lower. end a crank arm16 which 1s connectedby means o-f a link 17 with an arm 18 upon the rockshaft 9. The staff lll isrotated clockwise when the door is beingclosed.. The arm 16 at the lower end of the staff 14 is arranged tothrow over center whenA the door Ais closed, as shown in Fig 2,

so asfto lock said door in its closed position.

Any common or suitable' means such as that shown in Fig. 8 may beprovided to prevent the staff 14 from rotating farther in a clockwisedirection than the position shown in Fig. 2. In the present instance,said stop means consists of a collar 31 fixed by means of a set screw 33on the staff 14 and having a stop 29 thereon which strikes against a lug30 on a bracket 32, which is attached to the car frame and in which theupper end of the staffl 14E turns. v

When the parts are in the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 the dooris fully closed and the spring 7 is compressed between the roller 6 andthe lower bracket 5. Said spring therefore tends to raise said rollerVand open the door, thus swinging the lever 1 rearwardly and moving link17 endwise rearwardly. It will therefore be seen that the action oftherspring 7 tends to hold crank arm 16 and link 17 in their over centerposition, as indicated in Fig. 2.

The step 19 is movably mounted in any suitable way, being pivoted in thepresent instance to brackets20 fixed to the platform A so as to betiltable into a vertical or inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 3, orinto the horizontal or operative position, as

shown in Fig. et. At the rear edge of the step l19V is an extension 21which may be longer than the step 19, as shown in Fig. 1, said extensionserving, when the step is in its inoperative position, as a guard toprevent persons or objects from being thrown beneath the wheels of theear, in a manner well understood. The step 19 is arranged to be swung bymeans of a bell-crank lever 22 pivoted at its angle to any suitable partsuch as a bar 23 secured to the under side of the platform, one arm ofsaidl bell-crank being connected by means of a link 24 with an ear.25,011 the rear edge of the step 19 and the extends through a slot 28in the extension 21 upon the step 19. The relation of the parts is suchthat when the door is opened and closed, the step will becorrespondingly lowered or raised. The step 19 and the Vguard orextension 21 lie at opposite sides of their pivot line and substantiallycounterbalance each other so that the action of the f step mechanism iseven and smooth.

In operatiomwhen the car is stopped to `let oif passengers, the motormanswings the handle 15 to open the door 13 and to lower the step 19 sothat the passengers may dei scend from the car.

rock shaft, an operative connection between said staff and said rockshaft, a bell-crank lever, a connection between one arm of saidbell-crank lever and said rock shaft, and a connection between the otherarm of said lever and said step. y

2. The combination with a car platform, a door movable thereon, and astep pivotally attached to the platform beneath said door, of mechanismfor operating said door and said step comprising a rock shaft, a leverpivoted at one end and connected at its other end with said door, an armon said rock shaft engaging said lever, a vertical stati' having ahandle at its upper end, an arm on the lower end of said staff, a secondarm on said rock shaft, a link connecting the two last mentioned arms, abellcrank lever pivoted at its angle upon said platform, a linkconnecting one arm of said bell-crank lever with said step for swingingthe latter, a third arm on said rock shaft and a link connecting theother arm of said bell-crank lever with said third arm.

3. The combination with a car platform having' a door and a step movablymounted thereon, of means for operating said door and step comprising avertical staff mounted in the platform to oscillate on its main axis, anoperating handle on the upper end of said staff and a crank arm on itslower end, a horizont-al rock shaft mounted beneath the fioor of saidplatform and extending transversely of the car, an arm on said rockshaft, alink connecting said arm with the crank arm on said operatingstaff, an arm on said rock shaft operatively connected with said door,and an arm on said rock shaft having a link connection with said step.

4. Tie combination with a car platform having a door movably mountedthereon and having a step pivotally attached thereto bcneath said door,of a staff mounted on the platform, means connecting the lower end ofsaid staff with said door for opening and closing the latter, aconnection between said door moving means and said step for pivotallymoving the latter into and out of operative position, and an elongatedboard-like extension at the rear edge of said step serving as a guardwhen in a vertical position and acting as a means for counterbalancingsaid step whereby to facilitate operation of the mechanism.

l5. rIhe combination with a car platform having a door slidably mountedin the forward portion thereof and having a step pivotally mountedthereon beneath said door, of mechanism for simultaneously operatingsaid door and said step comprising an operating staff mounted on theplatform, a horizontal rock shaft extending transversely of the carbeneath the floor of said platform and adjacent the rear end thereof, aconnection between the lower end of said staff and said rock shaft forrocking the latter, an tending forwardly and being connected to arm onsaid rock shaft having an operative said lever. 10 connection with therear edge of said door, In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature alever pivoted to the platform adj aeent said in presence of twowitnesses.

step, a transversely extending link oonnect- GEORGE W. VOIGT. ing saidlever with saidstep, a second arm Vitnesses:

on said rook shaft, and a link Connected to C. PAUL PARKER,

said second arm, the last mentioned link eX- L. L. MILLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

